Donald C. Clark is professor emeritus of Educational Leadership, former head of the Educational Leadership Program at the University of Arizona, and a former middle level teacher and administrator. He earned degrees from Pasadena College (B.A.), California State University at Los Angeles (M.A.), and the University of Southern California (Ed.D.). He has been active in middle level education for more than 40 years as a teacher, building level and school district administrator, and university professor and administrator.

 Over the last two decades he has served as a member of three national research teams which studied middle level schools and their leaders, and he was also co-director of the National Study of Eighth Grade. He has been a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals' Council on Middle Level Education and the Research Committee of the National Middle School Association, and he currently serves as co-director of research for the Western Regional Middle Level Consortium.

 He has authored and edited eight books including Restructuring the Middle Level School: Implications for School Leaders, The Middle Level Principal's Role in Implementing Interdisciplinary Curriculum (co-authored with Dr. Sally Clark), and A National Study of Leadership in Middle Schools, Vol.I: A National Study of Middle Level Leaders and School Programs (co-authored with Valentine, Hackmann, and Petzko), written more than 100 journal articles, and has served as a consultant to numerous school districts and professional organizations. Currently he serves as co-editor of the Middle School Journal's Middle Level Leadership Column.

 In spring of 2000 he received both the prestigious NASSP Gruhn/Long Award for distinguished service and leadership in improving middle level education and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the College of Education, University of Arizona. At the summer 2002 Arizona School Administrators' Conference he received the Distinguished Higher Education Administrator of the Year Award.

 Selected Recent Publications

 Book:
 
Valentine, J., Clark, D., Hackmann, D., and Petzko, V. (2002). A national study of leadership in middle level schools: Vol. I. A national study of middle level leaders and school programs. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.

 Refereed Journal Article:
 
 Clark S. & Clark, D. (2003). The middle school achievement project: Involving parents and co